Electric blanket control unit holder



Nov. 21, 1961 w. G. BUCHWALD ELECTRIC BLANKET CONTROL UNIT HOLDER 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 5, 1958 A William 6. Buchwald INVENTOR.

Nov. 21, 1961 w. G. BUCHWALD ELECTRIC BLANKET CONTROL UNIT HOLDER 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 5, 1958 Fig.5

William 6. Buchwald.

1N VEN TOR.

United States Patent 3,009 676 ELECTRIC BLANKET C(ifNTROL UNIT HOLDERWilliam G. Buchwald, Rte. 1, Faxon, Okla. Filed Aug. 5, 1958, Ser. No.753,225 7 Claims. (Cl. 248-229) This invention relates to a bedattachment and more particularly to an electric blanket control unit andcable or line cord holder.

An object of the invention is to provide a special attachment for a bedto hold the control unit of an electric blanket accessible to theoccupant or occupants of the bed, and to provide means for supportingthe electric conductors that extend from the control unit alongside ofthe bedrails or some other convenient part of the bed whereby they willnot become tangled, nor will they be accessible to small children.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a control unit attachment showing itapplied to a part of a bed.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the attachment in FIGURE 1 with thecontrol unit being omitted.

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the attachment in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on a line 4--4 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a top horizontal sectional view of a bed fitted with twoattachments for a dual control electric blanket.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a part of the molding for holding theelectric conductor of the electric blanket.

FIGURE 7 is another part of the molding used principally at the cornerof the bed.

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention.

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of another modification.

In the accompanying drawings there is a conventional bed 10 whichschematically represents any type of bed. As it is common to most beds,there are bedrails 12 and 14, a headboard 16 and a footboard 18,although the headboard and footboard can be omitted as is the case innumerous Hollywood beds. Electric blanket 20 is shown on the bed inFIGURE 1, While FIGURE 5 shows two control units 22 and 24 together witha cable or conventional conductor 26 adapted to extend from both unitsto the electric blanket. The electric blanket 20 (omitted in FIGURE 5)is a conventional dual control blanket, although the principles of theinvention are equally applicable to single control electric blankets forsingle or double beds.

Attachment 30 is used to support control unit 24 along side of bedrail14. The attachment is made of a clamp 32 and a base 34 adjustablysecured to the clamp, Clamp 32 has a pair of sides 36 and 38 and aconnecting panel 40 at one pair of ends of the sides. This forms achannel which, when applied to bedrail 14, is opened downwardly so thatit fits over the top of the bedrail with the bedrail nested or seated inthe channel-shaped part of the clamp. Wall 38 is doubled, having aportion 42 fitting flush against the outside surface of the innerportion of the wall, and it has a laterally projecting panel 44 that isadapted to extend outwardly of bedrail 14 (FIGURE 4) when the attachmentis applied to the bedrail.

Base 34 is constructed of a panel 46 spaced below panel 3,009,676Patented Nov. 21, 1961- "ice 44 as seen in FIGURE 4 and having a centralbracket 48 fixed thereto and disposed between a pair of bracket plates50 and 52 (FIGURE 3) that are attached by mounting flanges 54 and 56 towall panel 40. Bolt 60 is passed through aligned openings in bracket 48and bracket plates 50 and 52. A nut is on the bolt and can be tightenedto hold base 34 in selected positions of rotational adjustment with thelongitudinal axis of bolt 60 establishing an axis of rotation for base34. Panel 44 includes a downwardly turned curved end portionconstituting a stop for the base 34 when the base 34 is rotated to thehorizontal position and presenting a smooth safe projecting surface whenexposed. When not in use, the base 34 of the attachment can be swungdown to a position approximately parallelly to the bedrail 14 for whichreason clearance or space is provided between the lower surface of thepanel 44 and the panel 46 of base 34 as shown in FIGURE 4 to accommodatesuch pivotal movement. The base will then be concealed against thebedrail while the outer curved end of the panel 44 only, is exposed.

The means for embracing and holding control unit 24 are seen best inFIGURES 2-4. These means consists of two jaws 62 and 64 that are movabletoward and away from each other. Each jaw has a pair of upstanding arms66 at the outer corners thereof, and each arm has an inturned upper end68 adapted to engage over a part of the control unit (see FIGURE 1) tohold it firmly fastened in place regardless of the position of the base34. Otherwise, the jaws 64 and 62 are constructed of flat plates 70 and72 that slide toward and away from each other on the top surface ofpanel 46. There are four slots 74 in the two plates 70 and 72, and abolt 76 extends through each of the slots. The four bolts are attachedto the panel 46 and being in slots 74, they constrain the motion of thejaws. The jaws are held yieldingly pulled together by a pair of springs78 and 80 attached to posts 82 that depend from the two plates 70 and 72and that pass through a pair of slots 84 and 86 in panel '46. The slotsconstrain the movement of the posts while springs 78 and 80, beingattached to pairs of posts with one post of each pair being attached toeach jaw, in order to yieldingly pull the jaws together in clampingcontact with control unit 24.

In FIGURE 8 there is a modification of the invention. The bed attachment3011 has a clamp 32a identical to clamp 32, and a base 34a identical tobase 34. The distinction between FIGURE 8 and the embodiment of FIGURE 1is in the shape of jaws 70a and 720. These jaws, instead of being madeon a rectangular base, are made on semi-circular bases in order to gripcircular control units (unshown) which are approximately as popular asrectangular control units 24. Otherwise, the embodiments of FIGURES 8and 1 are identical.

Reference is now made to FIGURE 9 where a further embodiment of theinvention is shown. In this embodiment the attachment 30b has a clamp32b the same or essentially the same as clamps 30 and 32a. Base 34b isfixed to the wall panel 42b and protrudes laterally therefrom at rightangles to the main plane of the panel 42b. The jaws have upstanding arms66b with inturned upper ends 68b to grip over a portion of a controlunit for an electric blanket. However, the adjustment of the jaws isaccomplished by having small plates 70b and 72b slidable in guides 90that are attached to base panel 46b. The guides are open-ended and areeach made of two substantially U-shaped channels that confront eachother so that individual guideways for the plates 72b and 70b areformed. The control unit is adapted to be placed between the pairs ofjaws and held in place by sliding the jaw fingers toward the controlunit with the control unit gripped thereby. The frictional resistance tomovement 3 between the guides 90 and the plates 70b and 72b retain thecontrol unit in fixed position on base 34b.

The conductor 26 is generally a nuisance in electric blankets. Thereforethe invention provides molding 92 that fits along the inside surface ofbedrails 12 and 14. The molding is approximately channel shaped and hasa plurality of downwardly opening hooks 94 to engage over the top partof the bedrails so that the molding 92 can hang on the inside surface ofthe bedrails. The conductor 26 is strung through molding 92. At thecorners of the bed molding 95 is used. The molding 95 is made of a shortchannel 96 with at least one hook 97 attached thereto. The hook opensdownwardly so that the molding 95 hangs on the bedrail. However, one endof molding 95 is laterally outwardly flared and curved slightlylongitudinally so that the conductor 26 can be guided around the cornerof the bed in order to enter a similar piece of molding and then anotherof the long moldings 92.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the ant, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An attachment to hold the control of an electric blanket on a bedthat has a bedrail, said attachment comprising a clamp that isapproximately U-shaped in crosssection and has a pair of spaced parallelwalls and a connecting panel attached to one pair of ends of said wallsand thereby forming a downwardly opening channel within which a part ofthe bedrail is adapted to nest, a horizontally disposed fiat basepivotally connected to said clamp and protruding laterally therefrom,jaws, means slidably mounting each of said jaws on said base parallel toeach other, said jaws being biased toward each other to embrace theelectric blanket control unit, each jaw including an anm that protrudesupwardly from said base having an inturned upper end for engagement witha part of the control unit and shielding stop means connected to theclamp and projecting laterally therefrom in spaced relation above thebase to limit upward pivotal movement of the base to a horizontalposition and protectively shield the base in a retracted position.

2. In combination with a bed having side rails, electric blanket meansdisposed above the bed and including a control unit operativelyconnected to the blanket means through electrical conduit, retractibleholder means adjustably mounted on a bed rail and extending laterallyoutwardly therefrom for clamp-supporting the control unit thereon, andconduit guide means removably mounted on the bed rails and extendinginwardly therefrom for retaining and guiding the electric conduitpartially around the bed perimeter inwardly of the bed rails.

3. The combination of claim 2, wherein said holder means comprisesslidable clamp means adjustably mounted on a bed rail, shielding stopmeans connected to the clamp means projecting outwardly from the bedrail, base means pivotally connected to the clamp means below the stopmeans and limited thereby to a horizontal position in spaced relationbelow the stop means, and jaw means slidably mounted at an outer end ofthe base means and spring-biased into engagement with a control unitseated therebetween.

4. The combination of claim 3, wherein said conduit guide means includeseparately mounted elongated straight portions and shorter outwardlyflaring curved portions for accommodating bending of the conduit atcorners of the bed and at connecting portions to the control unit.

5. The C nbination of claim 2, wherein said conduit guide means includeseparately mounted elongated straight portions and shorter outwardlyflaring curved portions for accommodating bending of the conduit atcorners of the bed and at connecting portions to the control unit.

6. In combination with a bed having side rails, electric blanket meansdisposed above the bed and including a control unit operativelyconnected to the blanket means through electrical conduit, retractibleholder means adjustably mounted on a bedrail and extending laterallyoutwardly therefrom for clamp-supporting the control unit thereon, andconduit guide means removably mounted on the bedrails for retaining andguiding the electrical conduit partially around the bed perimeteradjacent to the bedrails.

7. An attachment to hold the control unit of an electric blanket on abed that has a bedrail, said attachment comprising a clamp for mountingon the bedrail, a base pivotally connected to said clamp and protrudinglaterally therefrom, jaw means slidably mounted on said base and biasedinto embracing relation to the blanket control unit and shielding stopmeans connected to the clamp and projecting laterally therefrom inspaced relation above the base to limit upward movement of the base to ahorizontal position and protectively shield the base therebelow in aretracted position against the bedrail.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

